February 2014 – Page 2

Love and Duty are one and the same. Old, bitter men should remember that.

From The Book of the Iron Fist: But to Wu Ao-Shi, love and duty were one and the same. Old, bitter men with old, bitter bones have trouble remembering that sometimes. Related posts: Devotion to Duty The Mirage of Economic Prosperity and the Bitter Generation Who Watches The Apple Watch Men? Two Men Talking

From The Book of the Iron Fist:

But to Wu Ao-Shi, love and duty were one and the same.
Old, bitter men with old, bitter bones have trouble remembering that sometimes.

3D Dojo this week….

From William: This coming Saturday we’re going to be starting a wee project for regular attendees who are feeling confident with Maya. We’re going to build a simple character (not unalike the gentleman pictured below) and set up a rig to allow us to animate him/ her/ it. In a few weeks we’ll have your … Continue reading “3D Dojo this week….”

From William:

This coming Saturday we’re going to be starting a wee project for regular attendees who are feeling confident with Maya. We’re going to build a simple character (not unalike the gentleman pictured below) and set up a rig to allow us to animate him/ her/ it. In a few weeks we’ll have your characters literally (I’m not even joking) singing and dancing.

For now, here is a video of the rig that we’re going to make in action: http://youtu.be/2JexquMZfF4

And if you’re really keen, here is the Maya file for this chap so you can see what we’re going to get you to make (note that you can choose to model different head attire, you don’t even have to make your character green, why he could be another colour, orange for example, we’re not the sort of folks that mind).

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jqreh50lzrj7lxs/blob.ma

See you all on Saturday!

3 types of “game”

I see three types of “game” out there. Toys – these are games where there is seemingly no point. The complexity can vary but ultimately these tend to be open-ended and entertaining. I would classify The Sims and other simulations in here. Puzzles – these are games where the outcome is usually the defeat of … Continue reading “3 types of “game””

I see three types of “game” out there.

Toys – these are games where there is seemingly no point. The complexity can vary but ultimately these tend to be open-ended and entertaining. I would classify The Sims and other simulations in here.
Puzzles – these are games where the outcome is usually the defeat of a mental challenge. I would classify Angry Birds, Candy Crush and Myst in here.
Games – these are games where there is often challenge from another player, human or otherwise. Strategy games, first person shooters, racing games.

IAP

Found these via DaringFireball Drew Crawford: See, in the in-app purchase model actually predates phones. It predates video game consoles. It goes all the way back to the arcade, where millions of consumers were happy to pay a whole quarter ($0.89 in 2013 dollars) to pay for just a few minutes. The entire video games … Continue reading “IAP”

Found these via DaringFireball

Drew Crawford:

See, in the in-app purchase model actually predates phones. It predates video game consoles. It goes all the way back to the arcade, where millions of consumers were happy to pay a whole quarter ($0.89 in 2013 dollars) to pay for just a few minutes. The entire video games industry comes from this model. Kids these days.

The problem with this contention is that in the 1908s there was no choice. So the “quarter for 3 lives” model would not translate well. Imagine if you launched a game on IOS and it was an IAP every three lives. There’d be an uproar.

Thomas Baekdal:

We have reached a point in which mobile games couldn’t even be said to be a game anymore. Playing a game means that you have fun. It doesn’t mean that you sit around and wait for the game to annoy you for so long that you decide to pay credits to speed it up.

I spent a little time with a Dublin-based company a couple of years ago and the CEO exhorted me with tales about how their game was completely data-driven. I played it and I found it trite at best and just simply tedious at worst. They had developed a heap of content and then wrapped a statistics engine around it. If you think about it they had spent a fortune erecting barriers and walls around the content they had created. And it was awful.

In the end, it’s all about the game.

Fees and VCs

RT @SiobhanKHughes: #svgf Sean O'Sullivan @sosventures speaks strongly AGAINST VCs who take consultancy fees in addition to equity @itlgorg — Paul Steinberg (@psteinberg) February 1, 2014 Of course, they’re really speaking about private VCs. It’s a little bit more complex with some of the weird public-private VC structures that are designed to seed things but … Continue reading “Fees and VCs”

RT @SiobhanKHughes: #svgf Sean O'Sullivan @sosventures speaks strongly AGAINST VCs who take consultancy fees in addition to equity @itlgorg

— Paul Steinberg (@psteinberg) February 1, 2014

Of course, they’re really speaking about private VCs. It’s a little bit more complex with some of the weird public-private VC structures that are designed to seed things but not actually deliver anything on the equity.